


Settling Down

by Hibibun



Category: End Roll (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Allusions to most end roll warnings, Bondage, M/M, commitment issues, repressed sexuality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:40:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22812472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hibibun/pseuds/Hibibun
Summary: Walter is willing to grant Raymond a hiding place in exchange for a trip through his Unregulated Dungeon. He had wanted more data, but didn't expect learning far more than he initially cared to know.
Relationships: Past Raymond Costa/Fairia Adelista, Walter Bartley/Raymond Costa
Kudos: 6





	Settling Down

**Author's Note:**

> This took me 3 years to finish and I promise I'm still working on my other end roll stories, but it is an extremely slow process. I don't know if I have much to preface this with other than aspects of this are just headcanons I developed about Raymond to make him more bearable because usually his archetype of character I don't care for if they have no real depth. 
> 
> anyway enjoy!

It’s rare that Walter steps out. The current dream they’re in appears worse than most ones they’re stuck in and it gets worse each day the experiment goes on. He supposes the deterioration present suggests the Happy Dream injections are actually working, but it doesn’t really make him want to go out any more than usual.

Curiosity had brought him as far as the Incarnation shops, and once satisfied with observing their wares, quickly back to his study. Given his place as a researcher and how the interests and issues of this patient manifested, he should be more surprised that his role has taken on some strange cross between a mage and alchemist. It hasn’t hindered his studies though, so it didn’t seem important to pay mind to.

However, one thing always seemed to get in the way of progress around here—the cowardly figure swinging their legs off the counter of his study.

“Yo! Mind if I hide out here for a bit?”

“Would you even listen if I said no?”

Raymond’s expression does drop at that, and while he seems unsettled, the fact still remains that he’s on the counter and doesn’t show any sign of moving.

“C’mon, don’t be like that. I’ll stay out of your way and everything,” he offers as if it’s a bargaining point and not something he should do as a courtesy.

“Your mere presence is detrimental to my focus,” Walter explains because even though Raymond is just sitting there, he knows that eventually he’ll get bored; and when he gets bored, he starts to get antsy, which only leads to meddling.

Why he cannot just sit still or at the very least find someone else to bother when he needs a place to hide, Walter cannot fathom.

The groan is expected, but it seems his coworker is more desperate than usual today as more offers are quick to leave his mouth.

“Look, I’ll… do whatever. Any favor, just please don’t make me go back; Fairia’s looking for me and if it’s not her I gotta’ try and convince this kid to buy stuff. The way he stares is so creepy, but I guess also a little concerning. Did you see—”

Raymond continues to trail off about the various places around and how dangerous they are compared to their previous patients, but Walter already stopped listening. It wasn’t really new or valuable information, whereas for once he actually _did_ have something Raymond could potentially help him with. 

The researcher has no qualms about interrupting him the moment his configurations are done, figuring the least the other could do was help in obtaining samples.

“I actually _do_ have something you can assist me with, though I give no guarantee on your safety. Your odds are at least better than dealing with Fairia,” he replies while finishing what preparations were needed in order to get proper data.

In truth, he doesn’t really get why Raymond is scrambling to get away so much. The more sensible and responsible thing would be to face his problems and reject her properly if he was no longer interested in a relationship. Running and hiding in his lab was just childish and irritating for Walter. It’s expected for sure, but the researcher certainly can’t relate.

Seeing Raymond tense at hearing her name alone brings Walter a cruel kind of satisfaction and though the merchant looks doubtful, he hasn’t said no…exactly.

“Gonna’ make me do one of your weird experiments to make up for it? This better not kill me, everything in this dream seems so much more… violent than usual.”

“It’s nothing life threatening—as I said maybe just a few mild injuries. I see that as fitting payment,” Walter gives a rare smile, though it looks closer to a satisfied smirk while waiting for Raymond to open the door to his regulated dungeon.

“Since when were you such a sadist,” he mutters twisting the handle open taking a hesitant step in unsure what Walter needed him for exactly. Honestly, he has little understanding of what things he studies when it came to these types of dreams so the most he could do was brace for the worst.

The fact Walter follows him in is a little shocking since he made it sound dangerous, but Raymond decides not to question it. If he was there to at least make sure he didn’t die, then it was good enough for him.

What he doesn’t expect is for the door to lead out into what looked like their office of all things.

“So… what am I doing here? I thought everything in this dream was a part of that kid’s imagining. There’s no way he’d know about our work of all things at least well enough to picture it in this amount of detail.”

Walter moves to stand next to him after the door to his lab has been shut behind them, puzzling over where they are as if even he is unsure why they’re there. When the silence carries for another moment, that possibility starts to make itself seem more plausible, enough so that Raymond is worried.

“You don’t know do you?” He stares as Walter’s expression moves from pensive to annoyed.

“I thought you were all about controlled environments and safety precautions!” Raymond shouts trying to ignore the panic wanting to pour in. The only thing stopping it completely was the notion that Walter was with him and that meant he’d definitely make the effort of figuring things out if only to save his own skin.

“Will you cease your needless yelling? If you’d have given me a moment to collect my thoughts, I could have explained that this particular room is special. We’ve had enough patients that I’ve been able to generate what sorts of dreams might occur for someone so long as that person is a part of the dream. It’s still in the testing stages though as you can see…”

He decides to leave out the part how it’s relatively useless at this current stage of testing considering it’s only really able to work for someone in the dream. For those under the Happy Dream state it’s unnecessary, so it’s only really useful for people from Dreamsend or for anyone else they send in. Given its nature the idea is to try and replicate something similar to this in real life to perhaps avoid the severe negative side effects the Happy Dream medicine causes, but that’s merely a far out goal.

If Walter is honest, a tiny part of him is also just curious to see how the room reacts to Raymond as well as gather more data beyond him testing it himself.

“So you’re saying it’s reflecting our office because we’re here?” Raymond reiterates scratching the back of his head.

“Precisely. Although, I did configure it to follow your own mental state more closely than mine considering I already collected data on myself, but my presence might be affecting it slightly.” He would take more time to ponder the possibility, but Raymond was already walking down the hall in front of them.

Given that the layout is the same, it takes a few moments for Walter to realize Raymond is looking for where his own workspace is not that Walter often left his own. Raymond was part of the staff usually in charge of assisting the dream move along smoothly or providing help—while making a profit—when necessary. Walter, when not in the dream machines, was usually left to analyzing and attempting to utilize whatever data they managed to obtain. The machines themselves were kept in a separate room entirely, but he couldn’t be sure they’d need to enter that area at all yet.

It doesn’t take long for Walter to catch up though he is wary of their surroundings unsure of what monsters will manifest. Everything has been presenting itself like a game in Russell’s dream, so while they were in Raymond’s it would only be likely the same sort of effect would occur here. It had in Walter’s at least.

“Dang, I was hoping since it was my mental state, it’d be nice enough to remember the smokes I had in here, but I guess not,” Raymond comments closing the drawer to the desk he usually sat at.

“As if I’d let you pollute the air while we have to share it,” Walter responds not hesitating in showing his disgust for the habit, “You should thank me for saving your lungs; it’s a nasty habit.”

“Aww, you almost sound like you care.”

“As if.”

Their banter is cut off by the shrill ring of a phone on Raymond’s desk. The sudden noise is enough to spook Walter, but not enough to keep him terrified, if only because the way it wipes the Cheshire grin from Raymond’s face is too satisfying to ignore.

Neither move to pick it up, but after a moment of the repeated rings, Walter forces himself to nudge Raymond indicating he should answer it. Horrified, he just stares at the researcher then at the phone again instead content to let it stop and beep indicating the message was shoved into the answering machine’s queue.

The tension drops from Raymond’s shoulders, but Walter doesn’t hesitate to grab the side of his shirt as he tries to duck away.

“Answer it.”

“No! Are you kidding?”

“Am I ever kidding?”

They stare at one another and if it weren’t for the threat of having to deal with Fairia, he’d have backed out on the first ring.

Hesitantly, he presses the playback button watching as the blinking number stabilizes, but it does little to ease his fears as a familiar voice plays back over the receiver.

“Heeeeeey Raymond. I was so happy to receive your letter! So happy that I reaaaaaallly think we should meet up to talk about it. In person. I’ll be waiting for you!”

The dial tone kicks in, but the number begins to flash again indicating there was another message still left unheard. Rather than wait for Raymond to press it himself, Walter reaches over and does it for him already sure he would rather be anywhere than in this fake office of theirs baring what was probably something extremely personal.

Raymond should know by now that Walter is only interested in collecting data; it’s not like his coworkers personal problems affected him very much.

“Ray dear? I do hope you were planning to bring that Fairia girl back. Your father already apologized for not being able to make dinner last time, but he’d really like to meet her. Oh, I hope you don’t let this one get away she seems like a real keeper. You’re getting closer to thirty dear, you really should try to settle down.”

Rather than seem scared or even embarrassed, Raymond’s expression shifts to a passive blank that could almost rival their current patient. Something tells Walter that neither of these messages are simply fabrications from the dream, but rather things that actually happened.

A bit more hesitant than before, Walter reaches once more to hit the blinking button surprised that another message still remained, as Raymond himself made no move to press it. Shockingly, he hadn’t even attempted to crack a joke in order to deter the uncomfortable atmosphere as he usually would have.

The message crackles before letting out a shrill and distorted wail. The effect it has on Raymond is at least familiar enough for Walter to realize that it had become an enemy. Between his spells and Raymond’s shoddy firing, it doesn’t take long to defeat. Acquiring medicine was made simple at least as their patient seemed to know some interesting people, though even after being healed Raymond looked worse for wear.

“This enough data for you? Place looked spooky before, but now I’d definitely rather get out as fast as I can.”

Walter shakes his head and continues to look at what the office has for them, as while he understood that it was more than just the danger deterring Raymond from wanting to follow through with his side of the bargain, the researcher wanted more answers. It was true these encounters could help him with having more information to analyze, but admittedly, the whole situation with Fairia had only been vague gossip before now. Now, Walter unfortunately realizes, he’s interested.

He’s pulled from his thoughts upon hearing Raymond’s pistols and is quick to find a page with a spell he could use. Walter isn’t sure what to make of the tragedy and comedy masks attacking other than they’re stronger than the phone, but at least seem less prone to giving them status ailments. Their laughs were irritating though.

Once both are destroyed, they exit and move to the next office. It’s unclear where the root of Raymond’s troubles will be, nor how much of their office they’ll have to go through, but he can’t deny the silence is becoming more awkward than he’s used to. Normally, he’d enjoy a silent Raymond. The man never seems able to quiet himself or refrain from making an inappropriate joke or comment, but to see him so tense and troubled and _quiet_ is uncomfortable.

Not to mention there were a lot of questions and personal information coming up that Walter is positive he wasn’t ready to divulge—let alone to someone like him.

As they walk, Raymond, seemingly tired and bothered by the silence at least explains what was wrong with the last thing they fought.

“You probably wouldn’t expect it from me, but I used to love theater as a kid. I mean, maybe you would a little, I’m quite the actor, huh? But anyway all those plays, were just so fun to watch and I wanted to be a part of ‘em, even though that never really worked out. I dunno’ what it was about romantic tragedies, but I always ended up gravitating towards ‘em. I always thought, ‘If they were so in love, why’d they die?’ but I guess that is kinda’ true to life in some ways.”

Walter’s stays quiet as he talks mostly because he’s rambling and also because there were suddenly a lot of pieces to his coworker that he’d never asked for that he unfortunately has to piece together. He’d always assumed the other was just a natural heartbreaker; the type of guy to just lead someone on and dump them when he got bored. That was how people described him anyways, not that Walter ever paid much mind to gossip on the grapevine. He knew enough about Raymond to find him irritating even though their line of work was such that they often ended up needing to interact.

Raymond doesn’t really want to explain more, but depending on what they encounter he might have to. The entire area is suddenly a ticking time bomb of all the issues he keeps stored away in a box. There was a reason he’d been avoiding settling things entirely with Fairia and there were a lot of complicated details behind why he’d even chose to end things.

Fairia was great. She was great in the way that most women he’d dated were great. In some ways, she was even better because she was his type and didn’t hesitate to let him know what she wanted. It was exactly why he knew though that things couldn’t work out, because relationships and him never worked out.

The idea of a future with anyone terrified him and the pressure to make it happen and make it happen fast always made him back out. Fairia was great in the moment, but the second his mom brought up marriage and grandkids, he couldn’t help but think about how things were moving too quickly. These were all things he’d chosen carefully not to mention to her or his mother or frankly anyone at all. The letter he wrote for her had been short, sweet and to the point, which is why he knew it would end ugly. He just didn’t know how much she had it in her to be angry and vengeful. Perhaps, dating a coworker was a foolish idea, but again, he couldn’t really help himself.

Even though there was no room for pity from others because he’d clearly handled this all poorly, he had all the self-pity in the world for how much he tried to deny things.

As they take a quick detour into the area Walter works in to see if there’s anything, suddenly that denial takes a turn he’d really, _really_ would like to avoid.

“Is coming this way really necessary?” Raymond pushes, unsure as to what Walter is thinking upon staring at the state of his desk.

The silence carries and rather than be afraid like he was earlier, now an embarrassment bordering on mortification is filling him.

Walter had just wanted to see if his presence had really had that strong of an effect on things despite configuring the room to focus on Raymond rather than him. It was clear some aspects of their patient caused the structure to follow similarly at least in terms of their appearance and the fact things were appearing as monsters to fight rather than some of their previous patients’ imaginations. His office seemed like a decent place to confirm the question, as by theory, if his question was correct, it should have appeared in such a way to reflect whatever baggage he carried in, rather than Raymond, but this…

“Is this… a gag?”

The pun didn’t ease anything, especially since Raymond knew Walter wasn’t making one. In his hand was a literal gag, and he hated his brain for placing it there.

“N—yes,” he makes himself respond though the idea of explaining further left him unsure whether to be cringing or horrified at Walter’s reaction.

Once, just _once_ , had he thought too long and too hard about how pretty Walter is once he shuts up. The image and way he imagined it was now obvious, but it was meant to remain a private thought, in a private box not even Raymond wanted to look in. It was very rare he had thoughts like that about men, but regrettably, he admitted that since working for Dreamsend, he’d had quite a few thoughts like that—especially about Walter.

On Walter’s part, the revelation now here left him feeling a mix of things. First and foremost, is the ever present thought that Raymond is a disgusting pervert and his skin is crawling at the thought of being objectified like how he usually speaks about women. The other is… oddly inclined to wonder just what image—though the gag gives a good guess—he had in mind about it.

Rather than go down that path though, he thought it better to spare them both, merely continuing with what he originally came in here for. Briefly he flips through the drawers of his desk finding nothing out of the ordinary, glad that for the most part it seems like he’s getting better at fine tuning the room to adjust to individual people.

Getting it to be outside of the dream state and actually used in their world was a challenge, but this progress was promising. 

“Alright, things seem normal here. Let’s continue on, I have a feeling things will reach their conclusion where the dream beds are,” Walter explains, already heading back out into the hall and to the staircase where the beds were a floor above them.

Raymond opens his mouth once or twice still stuck on the awkwardness of the situation, but he eventually gives in figuring if Walter isn't about to bring it up, it lets him dodge the bullet. The repercussions of this would likely come back to bite him at a later date, but that was future Raymond’s problem.

They're met with only another set of masks at the top of the stairwell and though another phone rings from the office across the hall, there's no reason to enter there making it easy to avoid. That is at least until the door to the room containing said beds turns out to be locked.

“Can’t we just… imagine it as open? Isn’t that how dreams work?” Raymond asks, reluctant to enter the offices where the key most likely was waiting on a desk somewhere.

“Normally that’d be the case, but evidently something in there is being locked by your subconscious, so technically it’s your fault our time in here is being extended,” Walter answers, already heading towards the door to the upstairs offices.

Eager to just get out of this awful dungeon, Raymond follows suit, eyes inevitably drawn to the desk with the ringing phone on it. Conveniently, the key they were looking for was in the center of the desk as expected. Perhaps, inconveniently, it takes a few seconds for Raymond to realize its Fairia’s desk they’re staring at.

This time the phone doesn’t even wait for them to hit the playback button letting out a distorted version of Fairia’s voice calling for Raymond. Another battle ensues and neither wants to linger once it’s over. Walter quickly grabs the key and heads back for the locked door to their dream beds not surprised to see that the room itself is warped compared to reality and relatively empty save for a strange mannequin in the middle of the room.

“That’s… creepy,” Raymond says, staring warily at the wooden figure looking for any kind of exit. As if reacting to his words, the mannequin is suddenly donning a wedding dress and veil, though there’s no actual face under it.

It’s in that moment that the root of the merchant’s issues became glaringly obvious not that it wasn’t hard to piece together with the comments the other’s mother left over the phone. In a way, it only made sense that commitment was the thing holding Raymond back from a proper relationship, but it was a measly excuse for the way he treated those he left. If he wasn’t interested in a long term relationship, why not simply preface things with that? At the very least, that’s what Walter would have done, but he supposes his coworker is an idiot, as well as insensitive.

His thoughts are distracted by the bullet that flies through the edge of the veil as the figure dodges out of the way. The mannequin’s face morphs into a woman Walter doesn’t recognize, though based on the way Raymond’s expression shifts, he certainly does.

“I thought things were going so well! So why…” She starts speaking her tone turning shrill with the last word drawn out, and her face changes to a different woman’s face.

“Didn’t I make you happy?!”

Walter still finds it surprising that Raymond is affected by any of it, but considering he’s learning all sorts of things he hadn’t expected from his coworker he supposes he shouldn’t be that surprised. Nevertheless, it is frustrating that what’s happening is doing a good enough job of stunning him that the researcher is left to handle most of the fighting. At least for Walter, even if the battle is unsettling, he can’t place any names to faces making any damage he causes less worrisome.

When the mannequin’s face stops on their coworker’s only then does Walter hesitate because he actually is quite fond of Fairia. Not to the degree Raymond clearly was enamored, but she’s efficient and does her job, which is something he can appreciate. It’s only then that the reality of the situation seems to dawn on the merchant, urging him out of whatever trance the encounter had put him in. He bites the metaphorical bullet and readies a shot that finally seems to hit its target, piercing the mannequin directly and breaking the illusion.

The lights flicker one last time and eerily the mannequin is on the floor now. Its veil knocked askew, and the long trail of fabric behind it leading to the exit.

Without stopping to examine further, Raymond bolts for the door.

“So thiiiiiiis is where you’ve been?” says Fairia who was waiting at the entrance of Walter’s lab. Her presence would have a shriek leaving Raymond’s lips if he wasn’t out of breath from running moments prior. Despite all the things drudged up just an hour prior, he still moves to slink behind Walter the second he’s back in the room as well—as if the researcher would protect him. 

“Why don’t you just tell her the truth?” Walter asks with no sympathy in his tone given it’s the advice he’d been giving since the start. It’s almost irritating to have the merchant pathetically cowering behind him still because it means he clearly hasn’t learned a thing. Not to mention, it was an argument Walter still wanted no part in.

“Hmmmm? Ray, tell me what?” Fairia’s smile looks cheerful on the surface, long lashes batting as if she’s amused, but there’s no telling what she’s really thinking. It’s hard to think when she looks at him like that, but Raymond takes a heavy sigh, and slinks out of Walter’s shadow.

“Look I… I just didn’t want anything serious. I liked being with you, I still even _like_ you I just…” He scratches the back of his neck wondering if he’ll actually make it out of this encounter alive.

“I didn’t want to get married. Or stay a couple. It had nothing to do with you, it’s just me. I-I’m sorry,” Raymond stares pointedly at the wall behind Fairia because suddenly he wants to crawl under the researcher’s desk, and stay there until it’s time to get out of this dream. 

Out of the corner of his eye from where he’s narrowly trying not to stare directly at Fairia, he catches her blinking. A quick succession of three in a row, before she opens her mouth and speaks.

“Mmhm. So that’s how it was.”

Her tone is almost as empty as the boy whose dream they were currently inhabiting. Given his mannerisms and how she typically acted, Raymond sincerely thinks this is the last moment he has as a living being.

“We’ll discuss this later. We’re still on the clock aaaaaafter all,” she jests, a chilling smile punctuating her words. It feels like a promise of the death sentence he was assuming she’d deliver, as the woman breezes out of Walter’s study the way she came in.

True to her word, the rest of their ‘shift’, as Fairia put it, is mostly spent watching the world around them deteriorate at a rapid rate. It’s a little shocking in comparison to the dreams of the other subjects just how fast things seem to fall apart, but that might also have something to do with the manner in which the disturbing images and monsters around them grow exponentially.

Still, in the end, a job is a job, and Raymond tries to ignore the nagging feeling about their case study as they pack up and leave. A few hours after they wake up the news comes of Russell being a success. Minutes following that, he is announced deceased.

**Author's Note:**

> considering how long it took me to actually get all this finished i have no promises of adding on anymore, but if i think of anything i'll consider it. there is an epilogue piece i'll have done shortly though ;)


End file.
